Nicola Sturgeon to give evidence at Alex Salmond Inquiry today

Rangers FC bosses to ‘send fans home’ after massive crowds continued to gather in Glasgow.Nicola Sturgeon blasted the football fans who have taken to the streets in droves after the Govan side won the Scottish Premiership on Sunday.She branded the scenes outside Ibrox Stadium and in George Square “infuriating and disgraceful” as hundreds of supporters flouted the current Covid-19 restrictions which ban mass gatherings.After earlier praising the Rangers team for the victory, Scotland’s leader has now issued a direct appeal to Rangers FC.She tweeted: “I share folks’ anger at this.“Everyone has made so many sacrifices in the past year and seeing a minority risk our progress is infuriating and disgraceful.“It is deeply unfair to the entire

Ayrshire agency nurse.Claire Smith, from Ayr, has written to the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to ask if the government would reconsider their stance on the £500 Covid-19 bonus not being extended to agency staff.The 38-year-old staff nurse says when the NHS became overwhelmed by coronavrius cases, it was agency staff who ‘stepped up to help’.The mum-of-two was sent oversees to British territory Gibraltar at the start of the pandemic last year, by her then employers, Newcross, to support NHS staff as they struggled with the pandemic.Claire, who worked at Saint Bernard's Hospital, Gibraltar, said: “When the NHS were under immense pressure from the Covid infection rate and staff absences, it was agency staff that stepped in.“I am naturally

lockdown could be accelerated.

Salmond by two women when he was First Minister.Salmond took the government to court and it was agreed the internal probe, which destroyed his friendship with Nicola Sturgeon, had been unlawful and tainted by apparent bias.The fiasco cost over £600,000 of public money.Salmond gave evidence last week and accused his successor of misleading parliament over aspects of the scandal..Giving her own evidence, she said “two women were failed and taxpayers’ money was lost, I deeply regret that.”The First Minister said: “Although I was not aware of the error at the time I am the head of the Scottish Government so I want to take this opportunity to say sorry to the two women involved and to the wider public.”

Alex Salmond harassment committee today.The First Minister will answer questions from MSPs at the Scottish Parliament on a range of issues to do with the affair.Committee members will quiz the SNP leader on what she knew about the botched handling of complaints made against former First Minister Alex Salmond.Salmond took the government to court and it was agreed the internal probe had been unlawful and tainted by apparent bias.

First Minister said there was "good evidence" the national vaccination programme was already reducing the number of deaths from the virus across the country.And the SNP leader revealed the average number of covid cases being reported each day in Scotland had dropped to 657 - the lowest rate since October.It means all primary school pupils will be able to return to class as of March 15 - with high schools reopening full-time after the Easter break.Sturgeon added that a further review of easing level four lockdown restrictions would be carried out next week.Sturgeon told MSPs: "When I update Parliament next week, I hope to be able to confirm some changes to Scotland’s level four restrictions.

Nicola Sturgeon, perhaps wisely, gave a wide berth to committing to the same dates for unlocking as Boris Johnson, with only April 26 offered up as the day Scotland may return to the levels system implemented in the latter months of 2020.The framework set out a tiered approach to lifting restrictions ranging from relatively few measures at Level 0 to near-full lockdown at Level 4.A statement from the First Minister last week outlined the Scottish Government's intention to return to this approach as the vaccine rollout continues.Details within the full strategic framework, however, indicate the levels will be considerably tightened under new WHO guidance and in fear of the more transmissible UK variant.Sturgeon expressed hope most areas of

iOS and Android.NHS Ayrshire & Arran hospital numbers reduced dramatically overnight by eight with 94 now in health board venues with the virus. This is the first time they've fallen below 100 since December 10ICU numbers now stand at five for the fourth consecutive day.And 24 new cases were detected in Ayrshire.

James Wolffe will be quizzed by MSPs after the former First Minister urged him to consider his position.A Holyrood committee is investigating the SNP Government’s botched handling of sexual misconduct complaints against Salmond when he was First Minister.Salmond took the government to court and it was agreed the internal probe, which destroyed his friendship with Nicola Sturgeon, had been unlawful and tainted by apparent bias.He was separately acquitted of sexual offences after a trial last year.Salmond has accused named SNP figures, including Sturgeon’s husband Peter Murrell and Chief of Staff Liz Lloyd, of plotting against him and he has alleged the Crown Office is refusing to hand over the proof.“The most obvious and compelling evidence

Nicola Sturgeon has struck the right balance on easing lockdown restrictions – but a big majority think that the Scottish Government should speed up the timetable if the vaccination rollout reduces the death toll.With the UK hitting 20million vaccine doses yesterday, a Survation poll for the Daily Record shows that 57 per cent of people think that the phased easing of lockdown in Scotland should be accelerated.But almost the same number of Scots – 56 per cent – think the Government should not allow football fans to attend matches before the end of the season in May, compared with 30 per cent who want fans back in grounds and 15 per cent who don’t know.The First Minister has given a timetable for opening up the economy with the staged return

SFA, SPFL and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will consider a restart.Clubs are now exploring the possibility of a campaign reduced even further to just 18 games and Wishart is open to that if it gets PFA Scotland members playing.He said: “A survey of lower league players shows that 89 per cent of them want to return to playing.“There’s a real desire to return. 70 per cent of players have even said they’d be willing to get back without testing.“Some of it is down to mental health issues involved in not playing but ultimately, they just want to get back to work.“If it means going to an 18-game season, that might be the only way to get the campaign finished.

told the Holyrood Inquiry the name had been shared with his former chief of staff.A Holyrood committee is investigating the SNP Government’s botched handling of sexual misconduct complaints against Salmond when he was First Minister.Salmond took the government to court and it was agreed the internal probe, which destroyed his friendship with Nicola Sturgeon, had been unlawful and tainted by apparent bias.He was separately acquitted of sexual offences after a trial last year.In a bombshell submission to the Inquiry, the former First Minister accused Sturgeon of misleading parliament and breaching the ministerial code of conduct on aspects of the tainted government probe.He has also accused Sturgeon’s husband, SNP chief executive Peter

Alex Salmond will today finally give evidence to an inquiry that has led to a crisis at the top of Scottish politics.

Ruth Davidson on the eve of Salmond’s appearance in front of the Inquiry.The First Minister was also quizzed on whether the name of one of the women who accused Salmond of sexual misconduct had been inappropriately released.A Holyrood Inquiry is examining the SNP Government’s unlawful investigation into sexual misconduct complaints against Salmond when he was First Minister.The former FM, who was also acquitted of sexual offences charges after a criminal trial, claims SNP figures close to Sturgeon plotted against him.Despite being established to get to the bottom of the botched Government prove, the running of the Holyrood inquiry has become part of the story.In a submission by Salmond, he accused Sturgeon of misleading parliament and

coronavirus case number in all local authority areas in Scotland has been published by health officials.Public Health Scotland said that in the week between February 15 and 21, Scotland recorded a total of 5,736 positive cases of Covid-19 - which represents 5.0% of people tested for the virus.Scotland’s seven-day positivity rate per 100,000 population in those seven days stood at 105.0, according to the latest data.Falkirk recorded the highest number of cases per 100,000 population during this period, with West Lothian, North Lanarkshire, East Ayrshire and West Dunbartonshire all recording high figures.Shetland and Orkney recorded no new coronavirus cases over the seven days.Nicola Sturgeon said that Scotland is now seeing lower test

latest plan to ease restrictions yesterday but it was criticised for not looking beyond the end of April.The UK Government's routemap out of lockdown for England claimed all social restrictions could end as early as June 21.But Sturgeon said she would be “making it up” if she gave a specific date for the end of coronavirus restrictions.Speaking at the coronavirus briefing in Edinburgh on Wednesday, the SNP leader questioned Johnson's June 21 date.“If I was to give you a fixed, hard and fast date right now, I would pretty much be making it up and I don’t think that’s the approach I should take with you,” she said.Under the Scottish plan, council areas will not return to level three of lockdown - when non-essential retail and hairdressers can

Covid-19 cases and death rates steadily on the decline and clear evidence that the vaccination programme is exceeding expectations, a return to some normality looks a realistic target for the summer.That's good news for football fans who are hoping and praying that pubs, and maybe even stadia, will be open for Scotland's return to the big stage in the European championships.The governments in Holyrood and Westminster, however, have taken drastically different approaches in terms of what comes next.

could be back in class by March 15 with high schools fully open by April 5.But opposition MSPs and business leaders criticised today's document for lacking detail.Speaking to MSPs, Sturgeon said lockdown would ease in phases - separated by intervals of at least three weeks - culminating in the removal of the stay at home order on April 5.Scotland will move back to a regional system of restrictions by the end of that month.The rest of primary school years, as well as more senior phase pupils in secondary schools, will be part of the second phase – which will come no earlier than March 15 – along with an increase in outdoor mixing to four people from two households.Communal worship, a further extension to outdoor mixing and more freedoms in

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A spokesperson for the Scottish Parliament said: “The Crown Office wrote to the SPCB last night. We have asked the Crown Office to clarify its concern so that we can respond today.” A Holyrood committee is investigating the SNP Government’s botched handling of sexual misconduct complaints against Salmond when he was First Minister.

"route map" is published.